Peter and Matilda, or, The Pan and the Magnifying Glass
by ItMustBeCocoaPops
Summary: Matilda never heard of Peter Pan until her mother told her that he helped children on their way to the underworld, where they can play forever and never grow up. So, using a paper lantern, she asks him to come and let her visit her sister. Please review, follow and never grow up.
1. Chapter 1

All children, except one, grow up. Millions have, and millions will. Matilda Sainsbury wasn't any different, of course. She had one brother and two sisters who had already done it, and she'd shared a room with one of them, so she was already an expert on the matter.

The sister with whom Matilda had shared a room, Georgia as she was known, was packed off to a very grown-up place called Cambridge, where they sent you if you were good. As it turned out, Matilda's sister must have been _very _good at growing up, because she could go to Cambridge totally free (this, for anyone who isn't sure, is a very good thing which makes mothers very happy).

But even so, Matilda knew plenty about growing up, and the key thing was _not to do it. _Matilda's relatives always told her, 'Oh, you mustn't grow up, my dear!', or 'Always stay the way you are, my Matilda, always the way you are'. But Matilda couldn't observe any of her siblings _not _growing up, because only one had done so.

The sibling who didn't grow up was baby Bryony Sainsbury. As Matilda's mother put it, she had 'fallen asleep'.

'Is it good to fall asleep, Mother?' asked Matilda.

'Oh yes, wonderfully good!' cried Mother, teary-eyed. 'It means you're going someplace better.'

'What place, Mother? Where is Bryony going?'

'She's going to a special garden, Matilda. Where she can play forever and never grow up.'

'But why is she going?'

'She was too good for us, Matilda. So she's going someplace better.'

'But, Mother, what if she gets lost on the way!' shrieked Matilda in alarm.

'She won't, precious,' soothed Mother. 'There'll be somebody taking her there, until the sun rises and she can find her own way.'

'But who, Mother?' Matilda asked, and to this Mother had to think for a while. When she replied, she sounded terribly sad.

'His name is Peter Pan. He goes to the garden with children so they don't get frightened.'

'Can I go to the garden, too, Mother?'

'Oh, but we'll all miss you! And I might not be able to visit you, you know. You might get lonely. But I'll tell you what. We'll make a paper lantern for Bryony and Peter so it isn't too dark for them to find the way.'

And so it was, Matilda's first taste of Peter Pan. But, with childhood being so full of things to do and questions to ask, Matilda forgot about it almost instantly. As for Mother, she could barely even remember having the conversation. As I mentioned, she had been _very _sad.

But funnily enough, in one of Mother's dreams, years later, the name Peter Pan came back to her. She could picture his face perfectly - she felt that she had seen it before. But where? Oh, of course! This was the boy that guided her daughter Bryony to Heaven. But she knew him from elsewhere. He was a nice boy, but even his face was very cocky. In the dream, she said thank you to Peter for taking Bryony, and that she only wished she could return the favour.

She forgot about this dream, too, for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, a good four years had past since then, and now, despite her best efforts, Matilda had grown to be almost eleven years old. And more than that had changed - her good-at-growing-up sibling were _all _married, every single one! And with children! Oh, Robert had a baby, and Cecilia was pregnant for the first time, and Georgia had married a tall man called John, with green eyes, who was very nice to children, which was lucky as his wife already had nearly two nephews.

One of the best things about John, in dear Matilda's opinion, is that he knew exactly what to do at a market-place. They'd gone to one that sold plenty of bits and bobs, which had reopened for the first time after the war, and here John, Georgia and Mother were looking at a stall that sold all sorts of things made from glass.

'Oh, look, Matilda! A peppermint-box.'

'Mother, isn't this crystal butterfly a treasure?'

'It's only glass, Georgia.'

'But it would suit our new living room...'

But Matilda, once she'd looked at everything, found a magnifying glass just in the corner, not far from Georgia's glass butterfly. It was definitely from before the War, or even from the war _before _the War. You could tell it was old because it had a slightly rusty, bronze handle, and had something faintly scratched on it... DAR (followed by something indistinct and rusty) NG. DARNG. Dar-something-ng.

How queer.

'Look, John!' said Matilda.

'Ah,' John said wisely. 'It appears you've found a magnifying glass. A Darling Magnifying Glass. These were very popular about fifty years ago. They were made by a bloke called Michael Darling. He made a fortune, but they've lost their popularity now. Not worth a penny.'

'I want it,' Matilda said definitely.

'Now, Matilda, there's no need.' Georgia warned. She had looked at the price tag, and it rather alarmed her.

'I can get it cheaper for her, if you like,' whispered John. Then he turned to the shop-seller and said:

'This isn't worth so much. It's rusty and bent, you know. Not a soul in their right mind would buy it. I'll give you fifty shillings.'

The man was satisfied, so John paid and Matilda was the proud owner of her new magnifying glass, by Michael Darling.

The magnifying glass wouldn't help her a jot for another month, though, and this is what happened then:

It was the first day of Winter, and that marked the day on which Bryony Sainsbury had fallen asleep. On the first day of Winter, the entire family would hobble along, dressed in warm clothes, armed with a white lily each to plant over Bryony's resting-place, and when they came back, Mother would be very quiet and go to bed very early.

And so, Mother was in her bed, Father was downstairs chatting with Georgia and John was reading the paper in a mournful way. Matilda was making a paper lantern to send out, in case Bryony wanted to come back.

She never seemed to, because the lantern would always go ignored.

And this evening, she finished making the lantern and was sending it off when —

'I don't understand why you're always sending those out the window,' a cheerful voice called out. 'I never need them anyway. I know the sky off by heart.'

But where did it come from?

'I'm sending it incase she wants to come back,' explained Matilda. 'Bryony, I mean, my sister.'

And suddenly, in he flew!

_A boy clad in a tunic of spring leaves,_

_ his smile wide _

_and he had big blonde curls, _

_and big gay eyes!_


End file.
